Daily Discipline – Exercise

This is part 4 in a series of posts about daily disciplines, inspired by Jim Rohn.

After I had surgery on my back, the word exercise began to fade from my life, like the ink on a parchment being rained on. How could this happen when I used to exercise six times a week all out doing P90X? I think the answer to this lies in the meaning that the word exercise has for us at any given moment.

Exercising is like getting a regular tune up on your car. With it, you can extend your life, have more energy, and in general, be more productive and happy in your life. Those are good enough reasons for me to share about creating and maintaining a daily discipline of exercise for a healthier, happier, full, and abundant life. I won’t go into exercise and what it requires. The information for that is everywhere and you don’t need me to try and instruct you. But I can talk about the psychology of exercise and hopefully remove any mental barriers you may be having.

After I hurt my back and had surgery, I had a period of time where the word exercise meant impossible for me. Because it meant impossible, I didn’t even try to do it. After all, if it is impossible, why try and do it in the first place? Something happened a few months after that. My back got better to the point I could start exercising. But the problem was I still associated the word impossible with exercising. It was already blocked as an option even though I could do it.

What Exercise Means To You

The meaning of the word exercise varies amongst people. For a professional athlete, it is part of every day life. For someone working an office job in a cubicle, staring at a computer, the word exercise could be as foreign as an alien spaceship and be classified as something to just not get involved with.

So, Mr./Mrs. reader, what does exercise mean to you? Why should you even care? I think you care and are reading this because you are the type of person who is looking for more out of life than just getting by. Why else would you be here? Because of this, let’s paint a picture of a daily discipline of exercise that will get you going.

The Masterpiece Painting of Exercise

Imagine this if you will. You’re walking along the beach. If you’re a guy, you’re wearing just your swim trunks. If you’re a girl, you’re wearing a hot bikini. As you walk along you feel euphoric and energetic. Your daily discipline of exercising is paying off both in the way you look and how you feel. You’re confident as you approach and talk to people along the beach. You’re a force to be reckoned with, jumping at opportunities to increase your income and value at work, and helping your family be even more successful at home. You took this trip to the beach as a reward for your hard work.

Now picture this. You’re sitting at home again, blowing your nose. You’re sick again and in a foul mood. It’s raining outside and you’ve taken another two Ibuprofen to try and rid yourself of the headache. You’re annoyed with a co-worker of yours who you think is taking advantage of people. You wish your boss would pay you more because you deserve it. But you keep quiet about it, not having the confidence to bring it up. Your energy is low and your patience isn’t far behind. You wonder when things will begin to turn around for you.

Which scenario is more interesting to you? It’s not even about which you would like to have. It’s about which one is interesting. Your amount of physical activity and body maintenance will dictate how closely your life matches one of these scenarios. It’s not an exact science either. You can be happy and not exercise. But it’s like trying to cut your lawn’s grass using a pair of scissors. Wouldn’t you want take advantage of a much better tool to get the job done?

Create a compelling meaning

Have you ever thought about exercising but thought, “I’ll just start next week, I don’t need to do it now.”? I’ve done it. More than once. This is because the meaning of exercise was just not compelling enough for me. Why would I exercise when I don’t feel a reward for it. Now when I think about having that six pack, toned muscles, and looking hot, it starts to turn around. When I think about how confident I feel and that the world is my playground because of my energy, it starts to turn around. Create a compelling meaning and watch yourself start to exercise regularly.

Once you have a compelling meaning, you have the last hurdle. It is to do it regularly for a few weeks to build the habit. For me, it’s about three weeks of regular exercise to be in the habit. A few days doesn’t do it. This is the work part. A farmer wouldn’t expect crops to grow without first going out and planting them would they? So it is with you. If you want the body, the energy, the confidence, the reward of exercise, you must go through the initial discomfort and pain to make it a habit. Then it becomes part of you – as natural as eating breakfast in the morning.

Recap:

• Discover honestly what exercise means to you.
• Create the exact reason why you will exercise.
• Paint a compelling picture of the results.
• Go through the discomfort to make it a habit.

The Daily Disciplines

• How To Get To Bed On Time
• Daily Discipline - Exercise
• Daily Discipline - Healthy Eating
• Daily Discipline - Prepare For Rest
• A Few Daily Disciplines - Arise Early